Hold policy makers accountable, media told

Sept. 14, 2016, 9:16 a.m.

THE media has been challenged to make politicians and policy makers accountable in their line of duty.

Senior Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), Dr Philip Attuquayefio, made the call yesterday a one-day seminar on the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and its framework on pro-poor policies and fair economic redistribution in Accra yesterday

“There seems to be a lack of interest in the media in making policy makers accountable and respond to the citizenry and I don’t think this is good enough. The media must take key interest in data and other information on issues of regional integration,” Dr Attuquayefio stressed.

He also urged the media to make use of their agenda setting mechanism and make the right information accessible to social commentators since they (commentators) feed on what churned out by the media.

On his part, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Emmanuel Bombande, noted that there was the need for a collective work to be done as ECOWAS members to fight poverty.

He said a collective responsibility can help the sub-region in its quest to alleviate poverty and also move to becoming a community rather than individual state.

At the end of the day, an ECOWAS Journalists Network in Ghana (EJNG) was formed to spearhead the move of getting ECOWAS information to the Ghanaian audience.

The seminar was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with support from Ibis Ghana.